Which players give their teams the best return on investment?

When looking for the worst contracts in baseball, examining massive free-agent deals helps narrow down the potential list of albatrosses. To find the best contracts, free agency is rarely a help. When players have their choice of teams and can create a market, the highest bidder often prevails. To strike a good deal for a team, front offices target players further away from free agency, offering life-changing money in exchange for giving away those precious free-agent opportunities.

It might be too soon to call Cooperstown, but thanks to young stars such as Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, baseball's premium positions are extremely well-stocked -- now and into the future.

2 Related

What follows are the best contracts for teams considering money owed and expected performance. Players who are currently in the arbitration process -- such as Kris Bryant -- or have yet to reach arbitration -- such as Carlos Correa and Shohei Ohtani -- are not considered here as they have yet to sign a long-term deal with their teams.

ESPN +

Subscribe to ESPN+ to get access to all premium articles, Fantasy tools, plus thousands of live sporting events and ESPN Originals for just $4.99/mo!